Lost in Darkness
by Aly Teima
Summary: AUWhat if something had happened to Sam in the Mines of Moria? Frodo and Sam friendship and angst, chapter 2, the Fellowship finds something they don't want to, but they don't find Sam
1. Default Chapter

Lost in Darkness  
  
Author's Notes; I'm glad that there are some fics out there about dear Samwise. There aren't enough though and that's why I wrote this so that damn bunny would stop stalking me. The fic is dedicated to yellowrose and The Letter Writer, who both write fics about Sam and Frodo that show the equality of the relationship, and don't portray Sam as Frodo's lapdog or nursemaid. There are plenty of sick!Frodo, or fighting inner evil!Frodo, etc., as well as Merry and Pippin. I think that Sam deserves some recognition. Samwise is the heart and soul, as well as the salvation of "Lord of the Rings" and Tolkien's Middle Earth. After all, Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam, Samwise the Brave.  
  
This is a small story that may grow larger, I'm working on several projects at once. I felt resentful at the lack of good Sam stories and here is the result.  
  
"Let us hope our presence may go undetected" Gandalf, 'The Fellowship of  
the Ring'.  
  
Samwise Gamgee wasn't known as a skittish hobbit. In fact, Samwise the Stouthearted was becoming a more common moniker among those who knew and referred to him. Since the humble gardener had joined his friend and master on this perilous quest, it was practically his surname.  
  
But here in the deep blackness of the mountain, Sam was feeling the darkness push down on him.  
  
He was a soul that loved light and life, he knew about all things grew in warm soil and he appreciated beauty and fineness in a way that surprised those that underestimated him.  
  
This appreciation was one of the many reasons he practically worshipped Mr. Frodo, with his gentle, refined ways and fair features.  
  
There was only one source of beauty and gentleness he didn't appreciate. In fact, anyone who would have tried to bring it to his attention would have dealt with a hearty reprise from the lad.  
  
"Hmmph, fiddlesticks, I know o' the Elves, flowers that'll right take yer breath away an' the fanciest books an' writing that Mr. Bilbo kept stored 'way in his hobbit-hole. An' then there's Rivendell which I thought twas a dream till I pinched my arm blue and black, even Caracas when it wasn't tryin' to kill us was lovely. There was Mr. Bombadil's woods, some exceptions there too o' course. Everythin' of beauty I feel like I seen, an' appreciate too."  
  
In all of that, Sam still missed one of the greatest of all, himself. But it was foolishness to tell him so and those around him had long since given up in the conventional sense.  
  
Frodo was the most persistent, his love for his loyal servant ever presents, but Sam's stubbornness quelled even the Ringbearer. Things such as beauty, faith, loyalty, strength and light all defined the small hobbit.  
  
So, in the cold depths of the mines Sam felt wary and stayed as close to Frodo as possible without being underfoot (quite a feet, um, for a hobbit).  
  
Frodo was just as happy for Sam to stay close, as well as Merry and Pippin. Their familiar presence was almost as comforting as the grudging light on Gandalf's staff.  
  
Sam himself was missing Bill, who had become quite a friend for the gardener. Sam loved most animals and Bill's help did not go unappreciated but he knew that Aragorn was right about the pony. Sam sighed, thinking of Bill trudging to some Big People's village through the passes they had had to travel through. He had felt more.needed with the friendly little animal around.  
  
He glanced over at Frodo, who was watching Gandalf mutter to himself about which way they should go. Gimli was elbowing Legolas and the elf's expression said that he would not tolerate it much longer. Aragorn was silent and grim while Boromir was trying to watch his shield, his footing and Pippin's constant questions all at the same time.  
  
Merry just held onto the back of Pippin's coat with a long-suffering expression on his usually cheerful features. Pippin usually allowed Merry to live up to his name with his youthful exuberance. He was a welcome distraction to the Brandybuck, as well as his best friend.  
  
Sam watched Mr. Merry, feeling the admiration he usually did for the levelheaded hobbit. Not as irritating and accident-prone as Pippin could be or as morose as Frodo allowed himself to become, Merry could be mercurial with his emotions but was unfailingly courageous and clever. Sam liked him better than his Took relation, but even he had to admit to Pippin's endearing qualities.  
  
He also felt somewhat envious, though he hated to admit it to himself. The emotions that had been nagging at him since the four had met the mysterious Strider in Bree were coming to a head and he felt helpless to stop them or to do anything about them.  
  
Sam was Frodo's caretaker. Using Gandalf as a valid excuse to look after his master helped Frodo endure it better, he knew, so Sam used his promise to the wizard as often as he was able.  
  
Yet.first there was Strider, or Aragorn as the Ranger preferred, then the Rivendell elves, then the Fellowship. Sam felt pushed aside and forgotten in his duty. Worse still, he no longer felt needed by his master.  
  
He felt like a bumbling clown next to the rest of the Fellowship, even though his sensible Gamgee blood told him that he was feeling sorry for himself and that no one else saw it that way.  
  
He felt Frodo slipping away from him, however, and not justs from the Ring's influence. He no longer confided to Sam, no longer laughed and joked with him. Sam would cook and help his master with his bedroll but everything else Frodo had seven other individuals to see to him.  
  
Perhaps it was the oppressiveness of the mines, the tragedy that so obviously had taken place here and the smell of death and despair that even innocent Sam could sense. It aided his thoughts, increased them and made them seem more pertinent.  
  
Unconsciously he stepped back from Frodo, not seeing his master's brow crease at the movement. Sam fell farther and farther behind the Fellowship, his steps dragging. He had always had the bad habit of falling behind and everyone from the Gaffer to Gandalf had tried to cure him of it.  
  
It wasn't that he was slow, it was that he was easily distracted by what was around him yet unlike the manic inattention of Pippin, and Sam was content to sit and dawdle.  
  
He was learning that there were some places that it did not do well to dawdle in, but the lesson was slow in coming. Now, however, he purposefully fell behind and kept his eyes on the ground.  
  
The thoughts were growing in Sam's mind about his own inadequacy. It was another bad habit, one that no one could understand. He slowed his steps further and further, kicking at stray pebbles to hear them click off of the sides of the wall.  
  
Frodo, far ahead by now, was surrounded by the Big Folks of the Fellowship and walking in Gandalf's large shadow, he was invisible to Sam. Invisible and he did not turn back to see if his gardener was following.  
  
Sam, wallowing, kicked another pebble harder this time and when it clicked off of the side of the mine, something bright flashed at Sam nearly blinding him.  
  
He remembered Gandalf saying something about mithril being found in these mines, as well as Mr. Frodo's uneasy expression. He had seen the thin veins and tendrils that had sparkled brighter than diamonds along the cliff walls but this was more than a small crack of the mineral. There was a gap in the wall, broken through by the sharp-edged rock Sam had kicked.  
  
His hobbit feet had hardly felt it but the rock wall had been thinned by dwarfish picks for many years in hopes of finding another cavern of mithril. Sam had simply finished the job.  
  
He knelt down and peered in, awed by what he saw. The Fellowship, used to the numerous clicking and random noises in the darkness beyond, paid no attention. They turned down another path, then another, until the only light left was from the gap in the wall.  
  
Sam, transfixed by the cold beauty of the mithril, gleaming everywhere in the small pocket in the wall, did not notice that the light provided by Gandalf's staff was gone.  
  
Somewhere far behind him, something muttered and croaked but the sound was lost by a gust of cold wind that blew through the narrow passage. Sam felt the cold creep up his back and saw the rags and debris waver and something deep inside of him became alarmed.  
  
*Where would a gust like that be comin' from down here?*  
  
Something echoed against the wall and Sam realized with horrifying clarity that he was alone. Completely alone. He cupped his hands to shout for Gandalf or Frodo but his better sense told him to remain silent.  
  
Something was there. Some sixth sense told him that it knew he was there too. Sam gulped and crept along the wall, knowing he couldn't go too far because of the darkness everywhere but near the crack of mithril on the wall.  
  
Sam squinted behind him, hoping to see something and his pointed ears twitched, straining the hobbit senses.  
  
Ahead of him on the trail, a grotesquely thin figure crept out of sight, hissing about hobbitsss and preciousss. It's lamp-like eyes glowed in the bluish light before it slinked away.  
  
Sam never saw it. Another gust blew through the passage, chilling him to the bone. The average noises in the uninhabited mine stopped, creating a silence that was more frightening than anything else was.  
  
Sam pushed his back against the wall, hoping to vanish into it. 


	2. Chapter Two

Lost in Darkness  
  
Author's Notes;  
  
Thank you to all who reviewed, I'm so glad there are Sam fans out there. He's the best, so why do I torture him? Who knows? Because I love him and think that Frodo should appreciate him more, so FrodoAngst! and SamTorment! Um, enjoy?  
  
A low hissing chilled Sam to his bones and he knew he had to call out. The words choked him, however, when he finally glimpsed what was slinking out of a cavern.  
  
He had never seen anything like it before, not even in Mr. Bilbo's pictures of the orcs he had encountered long ago in the Misty Mountains. This thing was much, much bigger than anything Mr. Bilbo had drawn and as it stretched and yawned it grew larger and larger.  
  
Sam felt his whole body shake but his Gamgee common sense told him to move, now, before it was too late.  
  
The creature was still looking around, wondering what had disturbed it after so long in the dark silence. It's slit eyes looked in the darkness and saw the glittering break in the wall.  
  
It hissed and spat out a word but no dwarves came forward to challenge it. There was silence, the way it was supposed to be here in the darkness.  
  
Sam had been backing up slowly, hoping the monstrous thing would go back into the hole it had come out of before seeing him. It might have, if Sam had not underestimated the weight of the pack he was carrying.  
  
He leaned back, anxious to melt into the blackness, anything to avoid being seen. Then, his feet slipped out from underneath him and he crashed to the ground. His numerous pots and pans made a terrible noise in the small cavern, echoing off of the walls and reverbiting back even louder.  
  
The thing screamed and rushed to the other side, closer to the light and saw Sam. Sam, transfixed by what he was seeing more clearly from the mithril's light, could not remember being this afraid, except maybe when Mr. Frodo had been stabbed by that Devil Rider.  
  
The thing hissed again and cocked his head, unsure of what to make of Sam. The two stared each other down before the monster casually reached over and grabbed Sam's foot, shaking him and holding him upside down.  
  
"No dwarvessss, no more dwarvessss here. What be you?" Poor Sam was shaking too hard to answer, partly from fear and partly from the thing's brutal upside-down shaking of him.  
  
"Anssswers me, disssturbed me and will pay." The thing slammed Sam against the rock wall and dragged him to a hidden cavern. Sam was dazed from his head hitting the stone and could barely struggle as the thing hauled him away.  
  
The mines were silent. That was uncharacteristic, even though it was uninhabited. The deathly stillness wasn't what first disturbed Frodo.  
  
Gandalf was deep in his own thoughts, trying to remember which way would lead the Fellowship safely and quickly through the cold darkness.  
  
Also, to Frodo's observant gaze, the wizard seemed anxious, less self- assured than usual. Something was weighing heavily on his mind and it was unintentionally infecting the rest of the Fellowship.  
  
Legolas' fair, serious face was unreadable to hobbit eyes, but an edginess to his graceful movements, and constant fingering of his arrows betrayed his emotions. Boromir moodily followed, keeping to himself and Frodo found himself more and more wary of the Gondor man.  
  
Aragorn was tense also, his jaw muscle flexing and his dark features stony. He was practically hovering over Merry and Pippin who were quiet, pale and depressed, affected by the mines' gloominess. He trusted Gandalf with Frodo.  
  
Which lead to the source of Frodo's uneasiness. A sharp stab of fear hit him so hard it made him dizzy when he observed that one face was missing. *Gods, no.where was Sam? *  
  
Frodo gasped and the Fellowship stopped. "Frodo?" Gandalf's eyebrows knit in concern.  
  
"Sam! Where is Sam?! Sam?!!" Frodo called out, growing frantic.  
  
"Hush!" Gandalf barked out, harsher than he intended. Engulfed in darkness, the Fellowship could not see anything but their immediate surroundings and themselves.  
  
Sam was nowhere to be seen. A current of concern visibly went through the Fellowship.  
  
"Damn!" Gandalf swore uncharacteristically. "I warned us all to stay close, did anyone else notice where he might have gone?" Of course the question was futile. No one had even noticed Sam was missing until Frodo brought it to their attention.  
  
Frodo felt guilt, fear and anxiety swirl around inside of him, he thought he was going to be sick. Aragorn grasped the pale Ringbearer to ensure that he didn't faint.  
  
Merry and Pippin moved quickly beside him, patting him on both shoulders, trying to hide their own worry.  
  
"Samwise is so quiet and unassuming, had there been a problem, something to delay him such as a broken strap on his pack or even a stumble, he would not wish us to stop on his account." Legolas said wisely.  
  
Frodo clenched his fists.  
  
"Do not worry, he can't be far, knowing Sam he sensibly just stayed where was when finding himself separated." But Aragorn's eyes said he didn't believe this and Frodo grew more frightened.  
  
How could he not have noticed sooner that Sam was gone? Sam would have noticed in an instant had the roles been reversed. He always took Sam for granted, especially since this quest had started.  
  
Sam had been nothing but his loyal, stalwart self. Uncomplaining and sacrificing. Frodo felt tears prickle at his eyes and cursed himself for his weakness.  
  
"We need to find him as soon as possible." Gandalf was tense and that frightened Frodo. * Sam, all alone in the darkness with heaven knows what else. Anything could happen to him, he.NO! Had to be calm. Why didn't Sam call out, or do something?*  
  
Frodo looked over at Legolas, feeling the elf's gaze on him. Legolas' dark eyes were sympathetic, the elf knew why, he had said it aloud.  
  
Sam had not wanted to burden anyone, or to draw attention to himself. *Oh, Sam! If anything happened to him. *  
  
Frodo couldn't finish that thought. How could he go on without his Sam? The ring glinted in the corner of his eye, cold and beautiful. It weighed so heavily on him, the responsibility that he carried.  
  
It meant giving up everything he cared for to destroy it. * But not Sam! Anything else I might be able to withstand.*  
  
A warm, soft hand landed on his shoulder and Frodo looked up at Legolas, whose eyes said everything. Gandalf was talking seriously with Aragorn before turning to the rest of them.  
  
"Aragorn and Boromir will go and search for him. Frodo, you and your cousins will stay here with Legolas and Gimli." Legolas nodded and Gimli huffed indignantly into his beard.  
  
Boromir looked fleetingly at Frodo before nodding as well.  
  
"No! Gandalf, I wish to come also."  
  
"And us!!" Pippin cried, pushing off Merry's restraining hand. "Sam is uncomfortable around Big Folk Gandalf, he will be upset as it is with the situation."  
  
Gandalf looked surprised at Pippin's mature words, uncharacteristic of the light-hearted Took.  
  
He's worried* Frodo looked to Merry, biting his lips and squinting in the darkness, hoping to see something. * They all are.*  
  
"I'm sure you are right, young hobbit," Gandalf said gently, "but now each person's safety must be considered." He looked at Frodo and the Ringbearer felt his gut twist with guilt. * He means me, especially me. How could anyone think Sam was less than me?*  
  
"We must find Sam immediately and leave this terrible place. We have stayed too long as is."  
  
"Gandalf" Frodo said suddenly. "I'm coming with you."  
  
"Frodo." Aragorn started. "No!!" Frodo's fear surfaced, silencing them all. "I-I'm coming with you. Sam, I.I need to find him."  
  
Gandalf's brows knitted and he nodded curtly before motioning the smaller group to follow him.  
  
"But." Pippin tried one more time before lowering his curly head. "They will find him" Legolas said softly.  
  
The elf took a small stone from his pocket, rubbed at it and it gradually began to glow. He then motioned to his three companions. Merry and Pippin sat close but Gimli humphed and glared at the elf, muttering darkly to himself, content in the darkness.  
  
"Be careful Frodo, and don't." But Merry didn't finish because Frodo had already stormed off behind Gandalf, his face stony.  
  
Bormir and Aragorn glared at each other for a moment before following.  
  
Sam tried to back as far into the wall as he could, but he couldn't get away from this, thing's horrible teeth and foul stench.  
  
"What be you?" It croaked, grabbing Sam's wrists and pinning them above the terrified hobbit's head. Sam struggled but the creature merely hissed, poked and prodded.  
  
"No dwarf, no, no dwarf in many'sss nights past, foul dwarfs with ax and beard.no."  
  
The creature's stench was making Sam ill. "Not polite, needs to answer. What be you? Not man, too small, too sssstrange, what ears?"  
  
The creature's scaled, clawed hands grasped at Sam's tender ears and he gasped. "What ears? Pointed, not elfssss." The thing spat at the mentioning of the elves. It stood over Sam as he struggled harder, impervious to the hobbit. It seemed to be searching for a memory.  
  
"Ahhh.tales told of a thing with great power, passsssed through mine and forestsss with a wizard and sword. Ssslayed the dragon to gain the jewel."  
  
Sam's eyes widened. * Mr. Bilbo!* Somehow this creature had heard the story of Smaug and the dwarves but he had gotten it garbled. There was madness in the red-rimmed, grayish orbs.  
  
"Jewels? Not seen but knowsss, you be halfling. Have a pretty bauble for me?"  
  
"That ain't me!" Sam gasped, trying to reason with it, or confuse it enough to let him go.  
  
"Liesss! What have you? Halfling will give dragon treasure to me!"  
  
"I don't have anything! My.my friends, they'll be here soon, just leave an' nothin' will happen, we'll."  
  
"No!!" The creature screeched then hissed, enraged. "No, halfling, not to share bauble with men and elfsss, cheated before! No wizard here, not yet!! Mine, all mine. Show me dragon'ssss treasure!"  
  
"I." Sam froze, hearing voices from far away, he recognized-  
  
"Gandalf! Strider!!" Sam called out desperately. The thing screeched in fury and clasped a filthy hand over Sam's mouth.  
  
"No halfling. Mine." The thing grinned maliciously.  
  
Sam couldn't breathe and he began to fight back when he felt the creature pick him up and bolt down one of the dozen of tunnels.  
  
"Mine, mine.dragon'ssss baubles, halfling treasssure." The thing kept whispering.  
  
Sam didn't know if it was orc or goblin or something else entirely. It resembled the latter with some strange additions. Sam gasped when he saw the goblin-thing take out some stringy, black rope from a pouch it was carrying.  
  
"Must sssstay, stay halfling."  
  
Sam tried to cry out as the goblin bound his wrists and ankles, then his legs for good measure, but he was roughly cuffed. Dizzy and feeling blood run down his face, he still attempted to bite the creature when it gagged him with some horrid, filthy cloth. After all, it was not in a Gamgee's nature to submit quietly.  
  
The creature, however, was much bigger and stronger than him. Sam felt helpless and sickened. There were so many tunnels, it was a maze in the mines.  
  
There was no way any of the Fellowship could possibly find him without getting hopelessly lost themselves.  
  
Sam, though he was frightened and had no wish to be abandoned, knew that the most important thing was getting Frodo to safety.  
  
Sam squeezed his eyes shut. For a moment, in the darkness with this gibbering, thing, he felt as though he'd never see his Mr. Frodo again. He supposed it was selfish to wonder how Mr. Frodo would get along without him.  
  
* Well, you clumsy oaf * a nasty voice spoke up in the back of Sam's mind, one that had been growing stronger as the quest went on, *very well, he doesn't need some fat, stupid, tag-a-long lump like you! Why, look at who else is travelling with him, protecting him. Even the other hobbits, Merry and Pippin are more educated and certainly more deserving of Frodo's station than some ill-bred, farmer such as yourself. *  
  
Sam felt too tired to protest. He could barely speak to anyone in the Fellowship, other than his fellow hobbits. Merry, Pippin and Frodo were much more outgoing and clever than him. He just felt over-awed by it all.  
  
Frodo would forget about him in a moment and it was better that way, better if the rest of them just left him. The gag muffled Sam's sob.  
  
The goblin was still talking to itself, looking at Sam and cackling before it scampered off. Then there was only silence.  
  
The small group did not go as far as Frodo had feared before seeing signs of Sam having been there.  
  
His large footprints sent a jolt of relief through Frodo.but there was still no sign of the other hobbit.  
  
"I hope Legolas and Gimli haven't torn each other apart by now." Boromir grumbled.  
  
Aragorn shrugged and kept his attention on the footprints, his Ranger- trained senses focused completely.  
  
Gandalf was quiet and Frodo hoped he was listening for some sound that indicated Sam was nearby.  
  
Frodo suddenly felt useless. He wasn't doing anything to help find Sam, though he had insisted on coming along. He kept hoping that Sam's cheerful face would appear, greeting him with his usual, 'G'mornin' an' G'day, Mr. Frodo. Time to trim the verges, no rest for a wicked hobbit' to which Frodo would laugh and insist that the gardener have some breakfast.  
  
Sam could never refuse Frodo's sweet rolls, a specialty of his passed on from Bilbo. The pair would then talk for a moment or longer, if Sam had time, at peace with the other's company.  
  
Elbereth how he hated this darkness! The mines were a cold prison and Frodo felt Moria's true menace with Sam missing somewhere in the tunnels. He would give up all he had, even.  
  
The ring glittered again. Even that. Especially that, to share a moment of peace with Sam again.  
  
Aragorn and Gandalf were talking, debating about which way to go as the main tunnel they had been tracking split into three caverns.  
  
Aragorn stopped speaking suddenly and sniffed the stale air, much like a dog would. Then Frodo smelled it too, something foul.  
  
A voice broke the silence, one that stilled Frodo's heart. "Gandalf! Strider!!"  
  
* Sam!*  
  
"Sam." Boromir whispered, hearing as they all did the fear and desperation in that voice.  
  
Then, an enraged shriek echoed off of the stone walls followed by silence.  
  
"Sam!!" Frodo cried out, rushing to follow the sound. Quickly Aragorn grabbed him and held him back as Boromir ran into the adjacent cavern.  
  
"Let me go! He's in trouble, no!! Sam!!" Frodo struggled furiously. "Stop Frodo, let Boromir go on." Aragorn looked sympathetic but unwilling to relinquish his grip.  
  
Frodo slumped tiredly, trying to remain calm and failing. * No, please not Sam. I'll do anything. *  
  
Boromir's face, when he returned, said it all. "Could hardly see in there, dark as a witch's-" "Boromir!" Gandalf said sharply, looking at Frodo, who could have cared less anyway.  
  
"No sign of Sam." Frodo bit his lip, tears coming to the surface. "But he was there, we heard him!"  
  
Boromir nodded gravely. "He was there and what little I could see showed a struggle. Probably against whatever else we heard. There were some signs.but nothing remains now."  
  
The silence was heavy for a moment.  
  
"Boromir," Aragorn said very quietly, not trusting his voice, "did you, find-" Frodo felt dizzy, he knew what Aragorn was really asking.  
  
"_Nothing_ remains" Boromir said harshly and looked away. "The stout, little gardener is gone. I can find no hope of going after him, if-" The Gondor man looked at Frodo and didn't finish.  
  
"There is a maze beyond there, hopeless to decipher."  
  
"Difficult, but not hopeless." Gandalf spoke up. "Perhaps Sam was able to aid us, we must find him." The wizard looked old and tired all of a sudden and Frodo felt his heart break.  
  
*Sam if you only knew how dear you are to all of us.*  
  
"Gandalf is right, please." For a moment Gandalf's eyes fell on the ring Frodo was carrying, then he looked into the hobbit's vivid blue eyes. It was what he saw there that made him regain his determination.  
  
Whatever danger, they could not leave Sam. The large-hearted gardener was as important to the quest, and the safety of Middle Earth as any of them.  
  
He looked at Frodo, the worry so strong on the Ringbearer's face. "We will find him, no creature goes about without leaving a trail."  
  
"But Gandalf."  
  
"Come, we must hurry." Aragorn cut Boromir off before laying a strong hand on Frodo's shoulder.  
  
They went down one passage, then another, sometimes farther than was wise before back-tracking. Gandalf's memory was the greatest aid, as well as Aragorn's tracking skills to serve them, yet nothing appeared.  
  
It seemed as though hours passed and Frodo's hope was sinking with each fruitless effort. There was no sign of Sam and they could not call out for fear of bringing other things down on their head.  
  
Frodo felt his agony increase when they returned to their starting point, the cavern where they had heard Sam's voice and found they had searched a tunnel that they had already traveled through.  
  
No one expressed their thoughts but Frodo could read it on their faces. Whatever had taken Sam had probably killed him.  
  
Frodo felt his resolve crumble. He would never see Sam again. Suddenly, he couldn't take another step he was so exhausted.  
  
He had ignored his faithful Sam, taken him for granted and now he was gone. His Sam. Frodo had been sobbing unashamedly and hadn't realized it.  
  
There was real pity and compassion on Boromir and Aragorn's faces but Gandalf wrapped his arms around the small Ringbearer, hoping to ease his pain and knowing he couldn't.  
  
It was too deep of a wound, one more to so many Frodo already had. No one said anything, they were each exhausted and disheartened. No one moved for several minutes until Frodo felt Gandalf's arms stiffen.  
  
"What?" Frodo followed Gandalf's gaze and gasped. Aragorn had already drawn his sword.  
  
Standing there was a monsterish thing in ragged clothes. "Goblin" Boromir whispered and Frodo recoiled.  
  
The thing was hideous. It's head looked like it had been stretched unnaturally and its fangs dripped drool down its slimy chin. It was whispering and cackling and did not seem to see the other four, it's huge eyes and misshapen ears twitching at random.  
  
The thing was mad and Frodo knew with certainty that it had taken Sam. He became angry, this horrid thing had laid a hand on _ his_ Sam.  
  
"Wait Frodo!" Gandalf stopped Frodo before he could move, knowing what the hobbit was thinking. "It does not see us. If it runs off or is provoked into a fight that ends with its death, we will never find Samwise."  
  
The wise wizard was right. Aragorn slowly inched closer until he could hear what the goblin saying.  
  
"Halfling, my treassssure, great, glittering treasure, sssstay, dragons, elfsss, dwarves."  
  
Aragorn recognized more than one word and as slowly and quietly as he could he brought his sword up to the creature's neck.  
  
It saw him just as the cold blade reached its throat, then shrieked in rage pushing the sword away though it nicked the skin.  
  
The thing's neck oozed blood and it shrieked again, its eyes filled with hate as it made to scamper off again.  
  
"No!" Frodo cried.  
  
"Stop it!" Gandalf bellowed but the goblin suddenly stopped of its own accord. It had seen Frodo.  
  
"Elf earsss, yessss. Like others, yesss. Two halflings, not two, only one. One with treassssure." The creature's eyes fell on the Ring and it grinned terribly, all sharp teeth and drool.  
  
"Magic treassssure."  
  
"What other halfling do you speak of?" Gandalf said sharply. "What have you done with him?"  
  
"Treassssure" The goblin wasn't paying any attention to Gandalf. It saw only the Ring and Frodo felt an unnatural hatred well up inside of him.  
  
"Where is Sam?! Where is he?!! You filthy, horrid thing. I swear I will kill you if you've harmed him. I will kill you!!"  
  
The creature backed away from Frodo and even the others looked uneasy at his words, so unlike the peaceful hobbit.  
  
But this was Sam, hopefully just Sam and nothing else that would inspire another kind of dark emotion.  
  
"Where is the other halfling, goblin?" Aragorn looked dangerous, his sword glinting off of the light in Gandalf's staff. "I advise you to show us."  
  
"Dead" the thing whispered gleefully. "Dead, to drink itssss blood I did, no more treasssure."  
  
"Liar!!" Frodo screamed and lunged towards the goblin, who laughed and danced around in a small circle.  
  
"Dead, dead, dead."  
  
Gandalf held the enraged Ringbearer back and Frodo felt tears slipping down his face. * No! Please, not Sam!*  
  
"For your sake, that had better be a lie." Boromir now stood with Aragorn and Frodo noticed again how large the Gondor man was when he wanted to intimidate.  
  
"Liesss? No treasure?" The thing tried to look innocent, to no avail. "One treassssure."  
  
It looked greedily at the Ring. "Treasure, magic treasssure for your path. Halfling for treasssure." It pointed one scaly finger at the Ring and Frodo's fingers clasped over it.  
  
No one spoke.  
  
The goblin sat on its haunches watching Frodo's reaction.  
  
"You can put that out of your mind. You'll never get that and if you want to stay alive I suggest you release the other halfing." Gandalf was amazingly calm, only his eyes showed what he really felt.  
  
"No.." the goblin grinned again. "No treasssure from halfling?"  
  
"No." Frodo said through gritted teeth, tears coming again to his eyes. * I am so sorry Sam!*  
  
The goblin stretched its misshapen body to its full height, too enraged to do anything but spit and stutter for a moment. Then it became quiet. Frodo felt his anxiety grow.  
  
"No treassssure, no halfling." The other four only caught a glimpse of the jagged knife the thing had been carrying before it ran off. 


	3. Chapter 3

Lost in Darkness  
  
Author's Notes;  
  
Thank you so much to everyone who has read this and reviewed, this is my first LOTR story and there was little action, mucho angst but I love Frodo and Sam so much that I had to write it. Yellowrose, oh please write more Sam stories, I loved your first two!! I'm glad there are Sam fans of such caliber. Melissa Ryan, thank you for the review, it was in-depth and I appreciated it. Trilliah, I love your stories as well! I'm glad you also wrote such an in-depth review, its really nice to hear what other Sam fans have to say. Giggled about the torment analysis. Also, to Althea, FrodoBaggins87, me! and Lady-Willowish, thank you so much.  
  
"No treassssure, no halfling." The other four only caught a glimpse of the jagged knife the thing had been carrying before it ran off.  
  
"No!!" Frodo cried out and dashed after it before the others could stop him. Frodo didn't know how he was able to move as fast as he did but something was pushing him forward and when he couldn't physically see the creature in the darkness he followed the sounds it made.  
  
He forgot about his three companions, though he could hear them calling his name from somewhere behind.  
  
Finally, when it seemed as though he couldn't run another step, the goblin stopped and Frodo crouched near the wall hoping it couldn't see him.  
  
He gasped, though, giving himself away when he saw the familiar shape on the ground bound and gagged.  
  
"Sam!" Frodo cried out, stopped from helping his friend only when the creature put its knife to the gardener's throat.  
  
Sam's large, hazel eyes lit up seeing Frodo and he struggled again to free himself, stopping when the cold, sharp knife touched his skin.  
  
"Tricksss, halfings. Want treasssure from dragon's belly, want magic bauble." It pointed again to the Ring and held Sam's head up for Frodo to meet the other hobbit's gaze.  
  
"No?" the thing asked teasingly, putting pressure on the knife. A trickle of blood ran down Sam's collar.  
  
"Stop it! Leave him alone!"  
  
"Magic bauble." The creature hissed venomously. "Sam" Frodo whispered seeing the determination and calmness in his dear friend's eyes.  
  
He expected Frodo to chose the Ring over him and he was trying to say that it was all right. All of the love Sam had for Frodo, how touched he was that his master had come after him showed on his face and in those eyes.  
  
Frodo imagined never seeing anything but death in those eyes and his courage broke apart. He could not, he was not that strong.  
  
"Forgive me" Frodo whispered to no one in particular and pulled the chain off of his neck, ready to place it in the goblin's greedy hand.  
  
Sam tried to cry out but it was muffled by the gag. Time seemed to slow down, the air was filled with a strange, singing sound. A wet-sounding * thonk* followed and Frodo's eyes widened.  
  
So did the creature's.  
  
An arrow was sticking out of the thing's chest. Turning, Frodo thought he saw Legolas, Merry, Pippin and Gimli standing a fair distance away. He could only make out the elf's light hair and features and three other shadows he assumed to be his other companions in the darkness.  
  
Frodo, not thinking clearly, pulled the Ring back and the goblin collapsed backwards without a sound, its mad, rolling eyes finally closed.  
  
It was dead.  
  
It was quiet in the cavern until everyone came to their senses and the four interlopers ran towards the Ringbearer.  
  
Frodo had only one thought, however, and that was helping Sam. He yanked the gag out of Sam's mouth.  
  
"Mr. Frodo!" Sam gasped. "What're doin' here?"  
  
Frodo just looked at him and shook his head, desperately trying to undo the knots in the ropes holding Samwise.  
  
"Let me, Frodo." Aragorn was suddenly there and he cut the ropes away like soft butter.  
  
Sam immediately began massaging his wrists but didn't get far before Frodo pounced on him.  
  
The other Fellowship members just smiled, sizing up the small gardener to make sure he was all right.  
  
Frodo held Sam as tightly as he could, unable to hold in his sobs. Sam's strong arms wrapped around his master after a bit, though much more reservedly.  
  
Finally, Frodo moved back but kept his arms around Sam. "Did you really think we wouldn't come after you the moment you were missing, Samwise Gamgee?! What were you thinking? Why did you fall behind? You could have been killed, don't you understand how dangerous it is here? You.I.Oh, blast it."  
  
Frodo hugged Sam again. "We would never leave you behind." His muffled words were heard only by Sam. "I.what would I have done if, anything had happened?"  
  
"I'm sorry Mr. Frodo." Sam said quietly, feeling the bruises on his body and now his heart much more keenly.  
  
"Frodo" Gandalf finally spoke up, cutting through the tension and frustration that Frodo was feeling at Sam's reserved shame.  
  
"We must leave here."  
  
Boromir had to ask the new arrivals, however. "What are you doing here? How did you find us?"  
  
"Well" Pippin spoke up before anyone else could. "We were just sitting there quietly, until Legolas said he hoped Sam would be found soon. Then Gimli said something we couldn't hear but Legolas could and he said something back in a language I couldn't understand. Then Gimli said that Legolas couldn't find his way out of a watercloset let alone these mines and Legolas said his skills were far superior to that of any shrunken, hairy, Man-leftover and Gimli went all red and started growling and Legolas stood up and asked if he wanted to challenge him and Gimli said he had just been waiting for an opportunity then we heard all kind of shrieks and yells and banging and Merry and I just left Legolas and Gimli to argue even though we couldn't really see. They started following us and they were still arguing and we just eventually ran into you. Lucky, huh?"  
  
"Very lucky" said Aragorn, swallowing his laughter. Gandalf made no such attempt and threw back his head, laughing unashamedly.  
  
Gimli and Legolas were trying hard not to look at each other or anyone else. Frodo bit back a chuckle.  
  
Only Sam still looked troubled. He didn't say anything, not even when Merry helped him with his pack and Frodo hovered around him as the others spoke of what they had seen and where it had come from. More importantly, there was the fear that there would be more such things that recognized them enough to be a menace.  
  
Frodo wished that Sam would speak to him as they began walking again, seemingly normal once more, upwards to gain passage through the mines.  
  
The Ringbearer couldn't look away from the ugly red welts on Sam's wrists and ankles, or the bruises and cuts on his ruddy face.  
  
He put a hand on the gardener's shoulder part to make sure that Sam stayed right beside him and to try and comfort his friend.  
  
Frodo could feel the troubled emotions radiating off of Sam and it bothered him, but he knew that pushing Sam would only make the hobbit clam up more. Gamgee stubbornness was a force unto itself.  
  
When the Fellowship finally sat down to rest, exhausted by the recent events and the stress of being inside the mines, Sam still had not spoken a word.  
  
Pippin had tried making him laugh and telling him jokes, to no avail.  
  
Merry had been talking intently to the gardener, motioning to the others and himself, explaining but not chastising Sam, telling him what had happened when they discovered he was missing.  
  
Legolas had even tried comforting the hobbit, with his gentle voice and musical language. Frodo had thought that at least that would cheer Sam up, seeing as how much his friend loved elves. Nothing.  
  
Something had happened to Sam, something beyond any of their understanding. There were thoughts in the humble gardener's head that Frodo could not decipher and he knew it was eating away at Sam.  
  
Frodo looked down at the Ring, hearing, as he always did, the whisperings in the back of his mind, Its siren call never wavering.  
  
It was distracting him, it was a poison that was infecting the Fellowship, even all of Middle Earth.  
  
Frodo could feel it changing him, that he thought he could accept. He had taken the responsibility of the Ring, he must deal with the consequences.  
  
But Merry and Pippin, the brave warriors, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Boromir. Sam. He could not deal with the Ring changing them.  
  
Sam's fears and doubts showed on his open face as clearly as they always did. He had always been so easy to read, one of the many things Frodo loved about him.  
  
He could never conceal what he felt, his concern for those he cared for stronger than anything else. Dear Sam.  
  
Frodo was gripping the gardener's shoulder harder than he intended, thinking of how close he came to losing his friend, his greatest friend in life. In a heartbeat it would have been over.  
  
Frodo looked at Sam and half-jumped to meet the other hobbit's hazel eyes. "Mr. Frodo, sir? Its all right now." And Sam took Frodo's hand and squeezed it gently in his own, work-hardened one.  
  
He turned to look straight ahead but Frodo didn't look away. It wasn't all right, and both knew it. It would never be all right again. The darkness that Sam had been lost in was one that Frodo felt himself being pulled down into. The Ring's evil power was consuming him.  
  
All he had was the strength of those around him, Gandalf's wise words, the Shire's reminder in his cousins and Sam's unconditional love the most potent incentive of all.  
  
And the Ring knew it.  
  
The Woods of Lothlorien  
  
"It is what will come to pass, should you fail"- Galadriel, The Fellowship of the Ring  
  
The night grew colder and Frodo couldn't sleep. He felt as though he would never sleep again. Galadriel, so beautiful and wise, yet so terrible would not leave his mind. Her words were tormenting him.  
  
He could not look upon the grief-stricken, yet sleeping, peaceful faces of his companion. What he had seen was a nightmarish hell, so close to each of them that it seemed fear and darkness was all they had left.  
  
Gandalf was gone. Frodo felt fresh tears prickle at his eyes. The wisest, most prepared of them all had fallen into shadow, as Galadriel had put it. The Ringbearer did not know what they would all do without them.  
  
He was terrified that it would not be too long before another would fall. Each had come so close and would come closer.  
  
The woods were beautiful, however. It was easy to be awed by them. But it was a cold beauty, it made Frodo sad, as it had Sam so many months before, to see it.  
  
Sam. Thinking of the humble hobbit drew Frodo a bit out of his melancholy. But just for a moment.  
  
Then, terrifying memories hit him with full force. The taunting voice of the Ring, the evil eye of Sauron surrounded by flame and Galadriel's warning of a terrible future.  
  
But most of all, Sam. Sam who loved things that grew, life and beauty. Sam who epitomized what was strong and good within Middle Earth and the Shire. Shackled and whipped.  
  
The hopelessness on his friend's face still made Frodo want to cry out. Sam was battered and dirty, cringing when an orc brought down his whip upon his back.  
  
Frodo saw Sam worked to death, skin and bones. Or facing down orcs with nothing but his considerable courage, then paying the price. He saw Sam's lifeless body sprawled out on the wasted fields of the Shire as orcs stepped on it, flames in the distance casting a sinister glow.  
  
Frodo moaned, his heart breaking. He put his hands over his eyes and jumped when he heard a noise behind him.  
  
"Mr. Frodo?" Sam's quiet voice jerked Frodo out of his reverie. "Frodo?" Sam asked again, concerned about Frodo's pale face and ragged breathing.  
  
The woods around them were quiet, the silvery air peaceful, so distant from Frodo's agonizing thoughts.  
  
"Sam, I-I didn't know you were there. Why aren't you asleep?"  
  
"Couldn't sir. I, I was a-wonderin' where you were off to." Sam looked sheepishly at Frodo before kicking a pebble on the ground.  
  
"You are not my keeper Sam! Why can't I just get a few moments of peace?! Stop trailing me like you're my nursemaid!!" Frodo regretted his sharp tone the minute the words were out of his mouth.  
  
Sam, his hurt showing on his face, turned around wordlessly and began to leave.  
  
"Wait! Sam, I." Sam stopped but didn't turn to face his master.  
  
The images of Sam, broken, beaten or dead, assaulted Frodo once again and he began to sob.  
  
Sam, frightened, ran to Frodo. "Mr. Frodo?! A-Are you all right? Please tell me!" Sam looked beseechingly at Frodo, wanting the distance between them to close again, just for a moment.  
  
"Can't you tell your Sam?" Frodo met the hazel eyes he loved so well and wondered if Sam would ever understand what it was like to see a friend on the precipice of danger and not be able to help them.  
  
Sam, looking at Frodo, saw the growing darkness in the Ringbearer's blue eyes and wept for the Frodo he had known all his life. He did not know the stranger his master was turning into, but he knew he would follow Frodo to the edges of Middle Earth, to the Afterlife, if needs be.  
  
Neither knew that losing the other was the thing most feared. Other friendships, stronger love had been broken and dashed against the evil they all faced. No one, except perhaps Gandalf glimpsing from the side of the hobbit's lives, could understand the devotion each had for the other.  
  
For now however, Frodo was fighting against the darkness both was foundering in and Sam was holding onto his friend as tightly as he could. He loved him too much to let him go on alone.  
  
"I can't tell you Sam. I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! You.you know that, I." Frodo struggled with the words he wanted to say so badly and that Sam needed to hear.  
  
"You are worth this."  
  
Sam returned this embrace with full force and they held onto each other until the sun's rays broke through.  
  
In later days, starved and dying on the slopes of Mt. Doom, they would hold each other's hand and return to that night in Lothlorien. Sam whispered the exact same words to Frodo as he picked him up and carried him to the fire's edge. Frodo just held onto Sam, no longer afraid of the darkness with Sam there to guide him. 


End file.
